Lawyer barred from voting for having suing ECZ in the past

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has barred Lusaka laywer Noel Siamoondo from voting allegedly because he and YALI have jointly sued the Commision over the election of councillors.

This is despite Siamoondo being a Zambian citizen who possesses all valid documents for him to exercise his rights.

In what appears to be a move by the ECZ to send a message to the young lawyer that the commission was not pleased with the lawsuit against it, ECZ removed Siamoondo from the voters’ register despite him verifying details some weeks ago.

“I can’t believe this! I have been voting since 2006 and I always verify my details. For 2016 elections, I verified on 5 May 2016. However, I was turned away today because my details are not in the register. At what point was I removed? This matter must have a logical conclusion. I will not take this lightly,” Siamoondo complained.

When Siamoondo pushed ECZ for more than three hours to resolve the issue, he got a text message from the electoral body that he wouldn’t be allowed to vote without being given any reasons.

Siamoondo was the lead petitioner in the case in which ECZ and the Attorney General were sued over the election of councillors.